​BOSTON, Jan. 8, 2014 — The U.S. national office market absorbed 13 million square feet of space during the fourth quarter 2013 – the highest level recorded since 2007, and a 24.5 percent increase over the highest quarterly net absorption levels over the past six years, according to Jones Lang LaSalle’s 2013 National Office Market Report. In total, approximately 40 million square feet of positive net absorption was recorded for the year – a notable increase over the 28.2 million square feet of occupancy gains across the national office market in 2012.

The last three months of 2013 also marked the 15th consecutive quarter with positive net absorption. In addition, of the 44 major downtown and 55 suburban markets, 80 percent of geographies recorded positive absorption levels between October and December. Further, more than 65 percent of the national office markets reported higher tenant touring activity heading into 2014 – the fourth consecutive quarter of increases.

JLL’s report shows vacancy rates during the past 12 months dropped by 40 basis points to 16.6 percent – the lowest rate in five years. Overall, the Central Business Districts faired better than their suburban counterparts with a 13.9 percent vacancy rate at the end of 2013 compared to 18.2 percent in the suburbs. While still high, the suburban vacancy rate is down a noteworthy 140 basis points from 2012 levels. Boston outperforms the nation with 9.4% vacancy in the CBD, and 17.7% vacancy in the suburbs. The Boston metro area ended the year strong with 5.8 percent rent growth year-over-year, 1.3 percent in the fourth quarter alone. Leasing momentum appears to be strong across a variety of industries with high tech, health care and the sciences leading the way.

“There is a cohesive, across-the-board tightening in fundamentals nationally, an uptick in overall activity and broadening recovery,” said John Sikaitis, Managing Director Local Markets and Office Research with Jones Lang LaSalle. “After five years of recovery defined by geographic and industry segmentation, increased leasing, touring and absorption helped supply and demand metrics align for the overall national office market in 2013.”

As market dynamics shift toward a more stable office environment, landlord confidence continues to grow and for the 12th consecutive quarter, has fueled increased asking rents and decreased concessions across a broad range of markets. In fact, when looking at leverage for tenants in the market ahead, less than 10 percent of geographies JLL tracks will be tenant-favorable in 2015.

According to Jones Lang LaSalle’s report, 76 percent of the national office market showed higher rents of an average of 0.4 percent in the last three months of 2013 alone and ended out the year some 3.5 percent higher then where they started.

Among the highlights for the year:

Technology-driven markets continued to gain speed with Cambridge/Boston, Northern California tech hubs, the Pacific Northwest and New York’s Midtown South regions recording 7.6 million square feet of net absorption for the year or 1.8 percent of total inventory levels.

New York and Washington, DC, the two largest office markets in the U.S., accounted for more than five million square feet of net absorption – well over a third of national absorption gains between October and December and pushing the previously-dominant tech and energy markets into second place. The strong year-end showing reversed the previous four-quarter trend where more than five million square feet was returned to the market.

Throughout 2013, Texas stood out as the beacon of growth with Austin, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio posting 8.4 million square feet of net absorption – some 2.2 percent of overall inventory levels and double the rate of national growth over the past 12 months.

Outlook 2014Looking forward, brighter economic prospects should continue to push leverage in the landlords’ favor until additional supply hits in mid-2015 into 2016. A combination of diminishing new supply and a dwindling number of large- and mid-sized blocks of space will keep mid-sized tenants as the main drivers of activity. The spreading of growth across industries and geographies should benefit such diversified economies as Dallas, Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Atlanta, and Phoenix. Tech and energy markets may begin to see signs of peaking in the next 12 months until immigration and energy reform efforts in Washington reignite the next phases of growth. Finally, should New York and Washington exhibit continued stability; fundamentals could exceed forecasts over the next couple of years.

Added Sikaitis, “What we will see over the next five to 10 years is that Millennials will replace the Baby Boomer generation as the stewards of the office market. That has a huge impact on where Millennials go, how they want to be, how they want to work and it’s making some of the market challenged . . . It makes buildings without a sense of place, without amenities, without transit, without a story probably a bit more challenged than what they’ve experienced over the past 20 years.”

For more information on the National Office Market, please view this brief video featuring John Sikaitis of Jones Lang LaSalle. Click to view the YouTube Video.